Taken together, these ideograms form the concept of the ‘ancestral
cavity’.Within Daoist self-cultivation,
this is a specific point (located between and behind the eyes) that serves as
the cavity of a profound and ancient knowledge.This wisdom is accessed through an effort of introspection, or
meditation, and as such the zu qiao cannot be defined as either a psychological
construct (as it has a presumed physical location), or a physical construct
(because it cannot be seen with ordinary perception and must be accessed solely
through advanced meditative practice).This means that the ancestral cavity both exists and does not exist
simultaneously, and cannot be limited to either interpretation or perspective.In the early stages of Daoist
self-cultivation, the ancestral cavity only appears to exist when concentrative
effort is established in the mind of the practitioner, and directed toward this
psycho-physical point.In the advanced
states, the ancestral cavity may be entered and left at will (in other words,
it is now known to definitely exist), until the realisation of Immortality,
where the duality of entering and leaving the ancestral cavity is transcended
forever.Needless to say, the ancestral
cavity is considered the doorway to a higher being within Daoism, and is synonymous
with a number of other Daoist concepts.A contemporary Chinese language encyclopaedia entry explains the zu qiao
as follows:

‘Traditional Chinese
Medicine (TCM) does not recognise the ‘ancestral cavity’ as a pressure point,
but within Daoist self-cultivation practice, the ancestral cavity plays an
important role.TCM does not recognise
the ancestral cavity because as a body of knowledge, Chinese medicine does not necessarily
require its patients to undergo Daoist self-cultivation as a means to open the
qi energy centres.This has led some to
speculate that the ancestral cavity is an invention of modern qigong practice,
but this argument is false.

The ancestral cavity
(and its location), was described by Daoist Immortal Lu Dong Bin (吕洞宾), but he referred to it as the ‘天心’ (Tian Xin), or ‘Divine-sky Mind’,
according to the Sichuan Science Technology Publishing Society.In 1995, it published Feng Guang Hong’s (冯广弘) book entitled ‘Modern
Interpretation of the Grand Unity Golden Flower Realisation’ (known in English
as the ‘Secret of the Golden Flower’).This
book equates the ancestral cavity with the divine-sky mind, and describes it as
being located in the centre between the eyebrows, is triangular in shape and is
about two inches behind the eyes.The
book states ‘It is not located within the body, and it is not located outside
of the body.Ordinary inquisitiveness
cannot open it, and it can only be discovered through ‘stilling’ and ‘calming’
the mind.’Some people say that the
ancestral cavity is located two inches behind the centre of the nasal
structure, but this is obviously incorrect.

The ability to
‘intentionally observe the ancestral cavity’, and thereby realise its presence
and function, is termed the correct following of the return of the light
law.Both eyes perceive a bright light –
which only manifests in the ancestral cavity. This state of mind-body oneness
can only be observed when the mind is ‘stilled’ of all obscuring thoughts, and
a state of ‘calmness’ is established.Therefore
the preparing of the mind through appropriate training is essential, and this
can only happen if the teachings of the ancestors are followed exactly.This is spirit (shen) and the human body
becoming one, and because of this, spirit is recognised as the ancestor.According to the ‘Modern Interpretation of
the Grand Unity Golden Flower Realisation’, it states that the correct
application of the returning light law, is to focus the awareness on the
triangular area between the eyes, so that essential nature (jing), and spirit
(shen) are focused and integrated at that spot – which is the ancestral
cavity.The above book states ‘True
intention refines and circulates the qi energy – like polishing a mirror – so
that three lights meet between the eyebrows.A bright light like that of midday now radiates from the mind.It is only true intention that can purify the
mind and guide the energy in this way.’’(See Appendix I)

This has a Buddhist parallel in that the Buddha defined his
philosophy as ‘namarupa’, or ‘mind-body’.By this he meant neither ‘materialist’, nor ‘idealist’, but rather some
kind of unidentifiable reality that due to the limitation of ordinary human
thought and language, remains undefinable, but which is some type of
combination of the material and the psychological.The Daoist zu qiao concept evolved over
thousands of years of human observation of the body and mind, and maybe
considered the product of an ancient Chinese science.It is not a myth, or a product of inverted or
false thinking.In fact, the notion of
the ancestral cavity is an early Daoist attempt to acknowledge and explain that
reality cannot be limited to physical appearance or psychological projection,
but is rather a difficult to comprehend combination of the two.It is only human ignorance that cannot see
this, but once self-cultivation has been successfully applied to the mind and
body of the aspirant, the reality that is reached through the zu qiao becomes
obvious and self-evident.As experience
defines reality, only those who have realise the zu qiao truly understand its
implications.It is not physical, but
neither is it psychological, and yet the material and mental aspects cannot be
extracted from it.This is because
reality is an integration of matter and thought, and that the unenlightened
habit of human-beings separating the reality they live in into ‘matter’ and
‘mind’ is too simplistic for advanced Daoist science.

The zu qiao is entered through an act of concentration and
focus of the mind, but the mind can only be quietened when the body is suitably
disciplined.It is the act of focusing
all the energies between the eyes that both creates and opens the portal that
is the ancestral cavity.Although the ancestral
cavity is difficult to discern, and despite the fact that it takes much
training to perceive, nevertheless, it is also an expedient that acts as a
doorway to a higher perspective.Passing
through this ‘mysterious gate’ (玄门– Xuan Men)
is like experiencing a holographic universe, or rather realising that the universe
is both ‘real’ and ‘unreal’ at the same time, but with no contradiction
whatsoever.This ancient Daoist wisdom
also has parallels with modern science, particularly Quantum Theory, and maybe
favourably compared with Schrodinger’s Cat.The behaviour of sub-atomic particles appear to be unpredictable so that
nothing in the universe is certain (see Heisenberg).A subatomic particle, according to Quantum
Nonlocality Theory, appears to come into and out of existence so that
measurement at this micro level is very difficult or impossible to predict or
influence.Schrodinger devised a simple
thought experiment to explain this reality.He stated that reality is like a cat in a closed box.Due to the unpredictability of reality, when
the observer opens the box, there is always a 50-50 chance that the cat is
either dead or alive, but this equally holds for the cat in the box even if it
is not being looked at.The point is
that reality cannot be limited to a set of ‘either-or’ presumptions, but has to
be premised upon a theory of totality, oneness, and all-encompassing
opportunity.The zu qiao is a
psycho-physical reality that cannot be limited to a psycho-physical
reality.It is like a mirror that not
only reflects its own presence, but also folds-in on itself in such a manner
that creates the conditions for the perception of three-dimensional space.In this sense, the zu qiao is the centre of
the universe because it has no dualistic notions of its own locality.It is a collective ‘zu qiao’ that gets
everyone who perceives it, beyond the barrier of limited materiality, and false
imaginations.